Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk
(1895-1964), a German biochemist, whose research with antibacterial
chemicals resulted in
the discovery of a new class of drugs that provided the first effective
treatments for
pneumonia, meningitis, and other bacterial diseases. Domagk’s research
involved
analyzing thousands of chemicals for their antibacterial properties. In
1932 he tested a
red dye, Prontosil. The dye itself had no antibacterial properties, but
when Domagk
slightly changed its chemical makeup, Prontosil showed a remarkable
ability to arrest
infections in mice caused by streptococcal bacteria. Domagk tested the
drug on his
daughter, who was near death from a streptococcal infection and had
failed to respond to
other treatments. She subsequently made a complete recovery

After Domagk published
his
findings in 1935, doctors found that Prontosil could control many
bacterial infections.
Subsequently, other researchers developed derivatives based on the
Prontosil sulfonamide
group. The resulting so-called sulfa drugs revolutionized medicine and
saved many
thousands of lives.

SULFANILAMIDE,
first
used
in
1936,
was
the
grandparent
of
the
SULFONAMIDE
family of drugs that are still extremely
useful today.
Dramatic proof of the effectiveness of this new agent was provided
during an outbreak of
meningitis in the French Foreign Legion in Nigeria. While sulfanilamide
was available,
there was an 11% mortality rate. After the supply was exhausted,
mortality climbed to 75%.
Sulfanilamide and its derivatives, which soon followed, were said to
have "dethroned
the captain of the men of death," such was their effectiveness in
treating pneumonia.

The discovery of
Sulfanilamide greatly affected the mortality rate during World War II.
American soldiers
were taught to immediately sprinkle sulfa powder on any open wound to
prevent infection.
Every soldier was issued a first aid pouch that was designed to be
attached to the
soldier’s waist belt. The first aid pouch contained a package of sulfa
powder and a
bandage to dress the wound. One of the main components carried by a
combat medic during
World War II was sulfa powder and sulfa tablets.

The Scottish bacteriologist
Sir Alexander Fleming, (1881-1955), discovered penicillin. In 1906,
Fleming received his
medical degree from St. Mary's Hospital in London. During World War I
he began
experimenting with antibacterial substances and in 1921 discovered
lysozyme, an antibiotic
enzyme that attacks many types of bacteria. .In 1928, Fleming
discovered the
germ-killing properties of the "mold juice" secreted by penicillium, he
knew
that it could have profound medical value. But Fleming could not make
enough penicillin to
be useful in practice, and his discovery was dismissed as no more than
a laboratory
curiosity. Ten years later, a team of scientists at Oxford University
rediscovered
Fleming's work. Armed with increasing evidence of the remarkable powers
of penicillin, but
unable to engage British companies due to the country's involvement in
World War II, the
Oxford scientists sought help in America

In 1941 John Davenport and
Gordon
Cragwall, representing the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, attended a
symposium. At the
symposium researchers from Columbia University presented clear evidence
that penicillin
could effectively treat infections. Inspired by the possibilities, the
two men offered
Pfizer's assistance. That same year, Pfizer was among the companies
responding to a
government appeal to join a high-stakes race to see which company would
develop a way to
mass-produce the world's first "wonder drug." Beginning with
fermentation
experiments conducted with the team at Columbia University, Pfizer
would take many risks
over the next three years in devoting its energies to penicillin
production. The substance
was highly unstable, and initial yields were discouragingly low. But
Pfizer was determined
to succeed in the quest to mass-produce this lifesaving new drug. In
the fall of 1942,
Pfizer scientist Jasper Kane suggested a completely different approach,
proposing that the
company attempt to produce penicillin using the same deep-tank
fermentation methods
perfected with citric acid. This was tremendously risky because it
would require Pfizer to
curtail the production of other well-established products while it
focused on the
development of penicillin. It could also place the company's existing
fermentation
facilities in danger of becoming contaminated by the mobile penicillium
spores. In a small
room in the Brooklyn plant, Pfizer's senior management team met to
weigh the options and
took the leap. The team voted to invest millions of dollars, putting
their own assets as
Pfizer stockholders at stake, to buy the equipment and facilities
needed for deep-tank
fermentation. Pfizer purchased a nearby vacant ice plant, and employees
worked around the
clock to convert it and perfect the complex production process. The
plant was up and
running in four months, and soon Pfizer was producing five times more
penicillin than
originally anticipated.

Penicillin,
was,
and
is,
one
of
the
most
active
and
safe
antibacterial
available. Because of their effectiveness and large
therapeutic index,
penicillin and many closely related derivatives, collectively known as
the PENICILLINS,
and the closely related CEPHALOSPORINS (discovered in the 1960s) are
among the most
important families of antibacterial available today. Fleming
shared the 1945 Nobel
Prize for physiology or medicine with the British scientist Ernst Boris
Chain and
Australian Howard Walter Florey, who were able to purify and obtain
enough penicillin for
human trials.

Recognizing
the
potential of the Pfizer process for producing penicillin and desperate
for massive
quantities to aid in the war effort, the U.S. government authorized 19
companies to
produce the antibiotic using Pfizer's deep-tank fermentation
techniques, which Pfizer had
agreed to share with its competitors. Many of these companies could not
come close to
Pfizer's production levels and quality. Ultimately Pfizer produced 90
percent of the
penicillin that went ashore with Allied forces at Normandy on D-Day in
1944 and more than
half of all the penicillin used by the Allies for the rest of the war,
helping to save
countless lives.

For hundreds of years quinine
was used in the prevention and
treatment of
malaria. Quinine is found in the root, bark, and branches of cinchonas
and other trees
native to the Andes mountains in South America. In 1820, a new method
was developed to
isolate quinine and cinchonine, another drug from the cinchona tree,
from cinchona bark.
These drugs were then used to combat malaria instead of the bark
itself. In the 1930s the
first synthetic antimalarial drugs were developed. However, quinine
remained in wider use
than its synthetic counterparts until World War II, when the supply of
quinine from
countries in the South Pacific was cut off by Japanese military
conquest. Malaria reached
epidemic proportions among American troops fighting the Japanese on
islands in the South
Pacific. Early in the war a campaign in the prevention of malaria was
initiated. A
synthetic drug invented by a German researcher before the war was
distributed to American
troops stationed on the South Pacific islands. This drug was sold under
the name of
Atabrine. Complaints against the yellow pills became common. Atabrine
was bitter, appeared
to impart its own sickly hue to the skin. Some of its side effects were
headaches, nausea,
and vomiting, and in a few cases it produced a temporary psychosis.

Yet
Atabrine
was
effective,
if
only
the
men
could
be
made
to take it. A great part of the problem was that the proper
dosage had not yet
been worked out. In an effort to ensure that the Atabrine was actually
swallowed by the
soldiers, medics or NCOs from the combat units stood at the head of
mess lines to
carefully watch marines and soldiers take their little yellow tablets.

Plasma
is
the
liquid
portion
of
the
blood--a
protein-salt
solution
in which red and white
blood cells and
platelets are suspended. Plasma, which is 90 percent water, constitutes
55 percent of
blood volume. Plasma contains albumin (the chief protein constituent),
fibrinogen
(responsible, in part, for the clotting of blood), and globulins
(including antibodies).
Plasma serves a variety of functions, from maintaining a satisfactory
blood pressure and
volume to supplying critical proteins for blood clotting and immunity.
It also serves as
the medium of exchange for vital minerals such as sodium and potassium,
thus helping
maintain a proper balance in the body, which is critical to cell
function. Plasma is
obtained by separating the liquid portion of blood from the cells.

In
1938,
Dr.
Charles
Drew,
a
leading
authority
on
mass
transfusion
and blood processingmethods, set
up a blood plasma
system. By 1939, Dr. Drew had set up a blood bank at the Columbia
Medical Center. He made
a breakthrough discovery that blood plasma could replace whole blood,
which deteriorated
in a few days in storage. This discovery played a major role during
World War II where
many countries experienced extreme casualties.

Blood
was
urgently
needed
for
wounded
troops
as
war
raged
across
Europe in 1940. Dr. Drew was chosen by the International Transfusion
Association to
organize the Blood for Britain project. This program collected,
processed and transported
14,500 units of plasma - all within five months. Dr. Drew's scientific
research helped
revolutionize blood plasma transfusion so that pooled plasma could
readily be given on the
battlefield, which dramatically improved opportunities to save lives.

Fearing
the
U.S.
would
be
drawn
into
World
War
II,
the American
armed forces requested development of a similar blood collection
system. In February of
1941, Dr. Drew was appointed Director of the first American Red Cross
Blood Bank. He
established an effective plasma collection and preservation
organization - a model for
today's volunteer blood donation programs.

Because
of
its
ability
to
reduce
death
from
shock
caused
by
bleeding, dried plasma became a vital element in the treatment of the
wounded on World War
II battlefields. By the time the program ended in September 1945, the
American Red Cross
had collected over 13 million units of blood and converted nearly all
of it into plasma.
"If I could reach all America," said General Dwight D. Eisenhower,
supreme
commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces, "there is one thing I would
like to
do--thank them for blood plasma and whole blood. It has been a
tremendous thing." At
war’s end, some 1.3 million plasma units were returned to the American
Red Cross,
which made them available to civilian hospitals.

Morphine,
as
a
pain
killer,
was
widely
used
during
World
War II.
Morphine is processed from the opium poppy plant which in grown mainly
in Turkey and
India. As long ago as AD 100, opium was swallowed or taken with a
beverage. In the 17th
century, when opium smoking was introduced into China, a serious
addiction problem
resulted. After the invention of the hypodermic syringe during the
American Civil War
(1861-1865), morphine injections proved indispensable for patients
undergoing surgery.
Injecting morphine into the blood proved more addictive than smoking or
eating opium.

During World
War II, Squibb, a pharmaceutical company, developed a way for medics to
administer on the front lines a controlled amount of morphine to
wounded soldiers. What
Squibb introduced was called a morphine syrette, which was like a
miniature toothpaste
tube that contained the morphine. Instead of unscrewing a top like you
do on a toothpaste
tube, it had a blind end that was sealed. A needle attached to the
syrette was used by the
medic to puncture the seal. The medic would come along, break the seal
and inject the
wounded soldier with the morphine syrette.

During World
War II, Medics were allowed to administer morphine to alleviate pain,
although the injection could also be given at the Battalion, or
Collecting Stations. If
the drug was applied , the syrette was pinned to the casualties collar
to prevent
overdosing of unconscious patients. Usually the 1/2 grain
injection from the
toothpaste tube shaped syrette, combined with physical exhaustion, was
sufficient to knock
the patient out, with the casualty often waking up in the hospital.

This
is
a
facsimile
of
the
Squibb
produced
morphine
syrette
used
during
World War II by doctors and medics. The needle attached to the
syrette was used by
the medic to puncture the seal. The medic would come along, break the
seal and inject the
wounded soldier with the morphine syrette.